Currently, the two most prevalent electronic communication formats are instant messaging and e-mail. Instant messaging systems provide real-time communication between users who are connected to the systems through an on-line or electronic networking environment. Instant messaging systems are quite popular among Internet, Intranet, and Extranet users because they are user friendly and provide a simple, inexpensive way to send instantaneous messages. However, the popularity of instant messaging has created an interrupt-driven workforce. Employees turn off instant messaging to get work accomplished; this reduces the effectiveness of a virtual knowledge organization because experts, co-workers, or friends may not be readily available.
Many times instant messaging is misused because no better message format appears to be available for the sender. Instant messaging has a high level of urgency implied in its delivery format, similar to a telephone call, and encourages an immediate response.
Conversely, e-mail has a relatively lower level of urgency, similar to postal mail. The recipient can read an e-mail whenever they have time and may delay responding to an e-mail for significant periods of time, for example from several minutes to several days. Messages that do not require immediate action are often sent via instant messaging rather than e-mail because the senders wish to engage in a very interactive conversation or they do not wish a reply to be delayed beyond a certain time frame. If a follow-on message is dependent upon the reply to a previous message, the delay in having that conversation over e-mail could be days, depending on the number of interchanges.
There exists a class of messages that falls between instant messaging and e-mail in urgency. These communication messages do not require immediate delivery, interrupting the employee or other individual. However, these messages do need a response when they are received; delivery at the right time in the right context or place can maximize their effectiveness. The combination of location, activity and timing in the delivery of messages creates a messaging class that is contextual. The vast majority of instant messages or e-mail are not contextual in nature.
One instant messaging and web conferencing solution has a feature called “place based awareness” that allows a user to know when another user is currently in the same “virtual location.” This feature allows the users in that same location the opportunity to collaborate on a common topic; the topic is typically contextual to the virtual location. However, this technology requires that the group of users be in the same virtual location at the same time. The “place based awareness” message is therefore always synchronous. In addition, the senders will not know in advance to whom they will be able to send the message.
Using place based awareness, if a user wishes to visit a web site and interact with others at that web site, the user must go to that web site and stay connected there until someone else accesses that web site. If five people access that web site, the user must decide whether to send five independent messages, one to each person, asking for some contextual input.
What is therefore needed is a system and associated method for leaving messages for others on the virtual global computing space that can be delivered to the recipient at the appropriate time and to the appropriate place that ultimately provides a much richer contextual messaging environment. The need for such a system has heretofore remained unsatisfied.